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Passage of Bill must for state to become reality

New Delhi, Jul 30, 2013, DHNS :

A number of steps required to be taken under the constitutional scheme, including the passage of a bill in Parliament, for it to become a reality.

For this purpose, noted Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap has said that a bill has to be introduced in either House of the Parliament on the recommendation of the President. After both Houses pass the bill and after the assent of the President (under Article 111 of the Constitution), a separate new state could come into existence. “But before the introduction of the bill, the President has to consult the state legislature concerned.

Consultation is a must but it is not at all necessary to take consent of the state assembly. The state legislature has to give its opinion but it would not have a binding effect on the President’s recommendation,” Kashyap, former secretary-general of the Lok Sabha, said. However, before the President gives a recommendation for creating a separate state, the government has to follow its own internal administrative procedure.

The procedure entails the preparation of a Cabinet note and approval by the Law Ministry, followed by ministers making a call on the decision and finally Cabinet approval.

The Supreme Court in the 1960 judgment on Babulal versus Bombay state said the Union government has the power to form new states and alter the boundaries of the state subject to the condition that the states concerned are given an opportunity to express themselves through their respective legislatures. But the opinion expressed by the states is not binding on the Union.

The methodology for admission, establishment and formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of states have been described under Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Constitution.